Wednesday April 22nd is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Though celebrations are from a distance this year, there are several ways to take part.
The City Nature Challenge is a yearly, global “BioBlitz” run by local parks and watershed councils. The McKenzie River Trust’s Elizabeth Goward defines a BioBlitz this way: “You try and race against the clock to get as many species as possible in a set location over a defined period of time.”
Goward says people have all weekend to scour their yards and post to the iNaturalist app.
Lisa Arkin of Eugene’s Beyond Toxics says, “We had the Environmental Justice Pathways Summit that would have been happening right now.”
Arkin says instead, they’ll pass out green cleaning supplies with the NAACP’s Earth Day food kits and hold a curbside pickup fundraiser with Viking Braggot.
Wednesday events include 350 Eugene’s electric vehicle parade, and a virtual rally hosted by college Public Interest Research Groups.
Other virtual events are posted at Earth Day Oregon.